Persecuted ethnonational minorities in the ‘cradle of
democracy’

"In responding to [international NGO] charges, the [Greek] Government
says that it recognizes, under the Copenhagen CSCE document, the
right of individuals to identify themselves as members of ethnic
minorities. It states that such self-identification nevertheless does
not require government recognition of such a minority or entitle its
members to nay privileges under CSCE or other instruments. As noted,
however, the Government continues to deny the rights of free speech and
association to some who have tried peacefully to assert what they
consider to be their minority rights."

The above excerpt from the section on Greece in the US Department of
State's "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995" (p. 885)
is a very succinct description of the situation of minorities in
Greece and the latter's government's double talk. When
criticized internationally, Greece swears by its tolerance and strict
respect of (usually the wording rather than the spirit of) the
international human and minority rights documents. Daily practice
internally though frequently reflects the discrepancy between the
supposed international commitments and the actual will or at least
practice of the Greek authorities.

The American diplomats who wrote this passage were referring to the
problems of the Macedonian minority in Greece. There are indeed, not
many, Greek citizens who exercise their right to identify themselves
as Macedonians, individually and as groups. As noted though their
related rights of free speech and association are in practice denied.
First of all, by the prevailing climate in the area of Greek Western
Macedonia where these people live and are mainly active, but also in
the national media as well. They are regularly treated as
autonomists, agents of Skopje, traitors etc. More
important though, the courts too seem to have the same attitude:
since 1990, the legal registration of a cultural association they had
created was refused on the basis of alleged statements made by two of
the founders ... in the OSCE Copenhagen meeting; the case won
admissibility to the European Court and will be heard on 24 march
1998, on the basis of an advice of its Commission for Greece s
condemnation for violation of freedom of association. In the last seven
years too many activists found themselves prosecuted in penal courts
for having defended their rights.

The most recent such trial, scheduled for 14 October 1997 but
eventually postponed for 15 September 1998, sheds ample light to the
extent of the persecution of that ethnonational minority. The
minority's political party "Rainbow" has been indicted for having
used in its office sign ... its mother tongue. Indeed, "Rainbow" opened
an office on 6/9/1995 in Florina (Western Macedonia), with a sign
mentioning "Rainbow - Florina Committee" in both Greek and Macedonian.
On 13/9/1995, the office was attacked and eventually sacked by a
mob , led by the mayor of Florina. Before the sacking, police
acting on the prosecutor's order removed the sign, while the
prosecutor announced the indictment of the "Rainbow" leaders for ...
having incited discord among citizens through the use of the Macedonian
language in their sign. No political party, nor any media condemned the
sacking of the party offices. On the contrary it was praised by extreme
right nationalistic papers like "Stohos" and "Chrysi Avghi," whose
members reportedly took part in the sacking. And the use of the
bilingual sign was condemned by all mainstream political parties and
other social groups: the local PASOK -socialist governing party-
organization even initiated a court procedure, later withdrawn as it
appeared that many signatures on it had been put without the knowledge
of those concerned.

It is noteworthy that the witnesses of the prosecution included the
local leaders of all five main Greek parties at the time (PASOK, ND,
Political Spring, KKE, and Coalition); as well as leaders of
professional associations (lawyers, merchants, priests, taxi drivers).
Most of them, in their pre-trial depositions characterized the
defendants as "paid agents of Skopjan propaganda", "anti-Greeks",
etc. At the same time, the charges brought by "Rainbow" against a dozen
people who allegedly played an active role in the sacking of their
offices have for two years remained idle.

The indictment of "Rainbow" stipulated that the Macedonian words
"Lerinski Comitet, written in Cyrillic on the sign, "in
combination with the fact that they were written in a foreign
language, in the specific Slavic linguistic idiom, provoked and incited
discord among the area's citizens. The latter justifiably, besides
other things, identify these words with an old terrorist organization
of Slavic-speaking alien nationals which was active in the area and
which, with genocide crimes, pillages and depredations against the
indigenous Greek population, attempted the annihilation of the Greek
element and the annexation of the greater area of the age-long Greek
Macedonia to a neighboring country, which at the time was Greece s
enemy." For that reason, the defendants were prosecuted according to
Article 192 of the penal code: "One who publicly and by any means
causes or incites citizens to commit acts of violence upon each other
or to disturb the peace through disharmony among them shall be punished
by imprisonment for not ore than two years unless a greater
punishment is imposed by another provision."

The Greek state, therefore, not only violated the freedom of speech of
these Macedonians, but in essence banned their language for, we will
argue, being collectively guilty of alleged or real terrorist acts
perpetrated in the beginning of the century by people who were
speaking that language. Why not ban the use of German, too, in the
process, as divisive: wasn t it used by the occupying forces in
World War II which committed worse and more recent atrocities against
Greeks?

In anticipation of the trial, an unprecedented mobilization of 11 Greek
and 7 international NGOs occurred condemning the trial. This fact
went though largely unreported by the Greek media, which, nevertheless
devote large articles when the same NGOs criticize human rights abuses
in neighboring Balkan countries, especially Turkey. On the contrary,
the coverage of the trial by the major newspapers in Greece, just as
their attitude in the events of September 1995 which led to the sacking
of the "Rainbow" offices, was rich in inflammatory negative
stereotypes and hate speech. One called the defendants
"Skopjanophiles" and added that "they tried to exploit the trial to
further their propaganda, were provocative in the court building
... frequently engaged in broils and scuffles with other citizens"
(Eleftherotypia, 15/10), allegations totally inconsistent with the
observations of the international monitors.

Another praised the harassment in the courthouse of a journalist of
Macedonian TV by a lawyer without the intervention of the police or
security guards, and called the journalist, whose comportment was
impeccable, "impudent." It also called the defendants "autonomists -
Skopjanophiles" -although "Rainbow" has never demanded autonomy- and
added equally falsely that they were charged with "insult;
instigating principals in a threat; instigating principals in
damaging property, threat; damaging property, for having put up in
their offices signs in Bulgarian, on 14-9-95" (Eleftheros Typos,
15/10).

A third newspaper (Adesmeftos Typos), in two consecutive columns,
called "Rainbow" a "Trojan association of afflicted relatives and
friends" which "two years ago brutally provoked public feeling ... by
putting up the Slavic sign 'Lerinski Komitet.' ... The attempt to
incite and as a result the indictment of citizens was obvious. Hence
the charges against them and the trial tomorrow of these provocators"
(13/10). As for the Greek and international observers and/or witnesses
in the trial, they were called among other things "a dazzling
hodgepodge of ... international or naive advocates, observers who
create and maintain such issues, refined diplomats and rabid agents"
(14/10).

This extraordinary by democratic standards trial also led to an
unprecedented show of solidarity of minority Turks for minority
Macedonians in Greece. One deputy and one NGO from among them
publicly condemned the "Rainbow" prosecution, which they felt, rightly
so, reflected the same mentality that has been leading to the
repression of the Turkish minority in Greece. As the Turkish Minority
Movement for Human and Minority Rights stated, certainly with very
strong words, "the Florina trial achieves also a positive function:
it reveals the true situation prevailing in the field of minority
rights in Greece, but also in the field of freedom of expression when
it does not proceed in parallel with the dominant
national-totalitarianism. Also, it exposes the hypocritical stance
taken by the modernist government which, abroad and in relation to
the neighboring countries, devotes itself to championing human and
minority rights, whereas inside the country, to anachronistic
authoritarianism. Moreover, it exposes the guilty silence and
eloquent complicity on the part of the political parties."

This double talk of the supposedly modernizing Greek government
hasbeen characteristically evidenced in an issue dear to Greece s
Turks. Throughout the year, the -three- modernist Foreign
Minister and Deputy Ministers have repeatedly assured everyone,
especially abroad, that the notorious, unconstitutional, and contrary
to every human rights document Article 19 of the Citizenship Code
will be abolished, as it is "a violation of human rights." But the
competent and first in rank Minister of the Interior has only recently
assured the concerned local nationalist forces in Thrace (where
the Turks live) that there are indeed no such plans; and in the
meantime, 1997 comes to a close, with his ministry diligently applying
that Article and revoking the Greek citizenship of "non-ethnic
Greeks" -from the Turkish minority- "who have settled abroad with no
intention to return."

Until evidence to the contrary is provided therefore, those who pride
themselves for being "the descendants of the cradle of democracy," are
in fact dishonoring the democratic principles they would like others,
especially abroad, to believe that they cherish. The carefully worded
quote from the State Department report above is just a reflection of
that reality. Maybe it is high time for those "dumb-Franks"
(koutofrangoi), whom Greeks are also proud of having been deceiving
with their double talk, to react seriously and consistently so as to
finally make their Greek partners honor their international
commitments in the area of human rights. Otherwise, they give the
impression of, in fact, tacit accessories to their systematic
violation.